Expressing current actions, habits and situations (English Present Tense) with the present tense (Le Présent) in French

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In French, Le Présent Indicatif is used to talk about habits and other present actions or situations. 

Learn how to use Le Présent (Indicatif) to talk about current actions, habits and situations in French

Look at these sentences:

Tous les jours, je me lève à 6 heures.Every day, I get up at 6.

Les lions mangent de la viande.Lions eat meat.

Le téléphone sonne.The phone rings.

Note that le Présent is used to refer to current actions, timeless facts and habitual actions. In these examples, it translates to the Present tense in English*.

*but be aware as this is not always the case!
It can also imply Present Continuous or Immediate Future actions depending on context - see these other lessons:

Expressing immediate and near-future actions with the present tense (Le Présent) in French

Expressing ongoing actions (English Present Continuous) with the present tense (Le Présent) in French

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Le téléphone sonne.The phone rings.
Les lions mangent de la viande.Lions eat meat.
Tous les jours, je me lève à 6 heures.Every day, I get up at 6.

Current actions


Je suis dans la doucheI am in the shower

Habitual actions


Je prends le train tous les matinsI take the train every morning

Timeless facts


La lune tourne autour de la TerreThe moon goes round the Earth
Thinking...